Body shell structure for toy gun

ABSTRACT

A body shell structure for toy gun (air soft gun BB-gun) formed of two half shells and defining therein a barrel-like upper chamber for accommodating a bullet firing unit and a lower chamber for accommodating a trigger, a transmission mechanism and a bullet supply unit, having horizontal coupling grooves and horizontal coupling ribs formed on the two half shells above the elevation of the barrel-like upper chamber and vertical engagement blocks and vertical engagement holes formed on the two half shells in front of the upper chamber such that the respective horizontal coupling ribs engage the respective horizontal coupling grooves and the respective vertical engagement blocks engage the respective vertical engagement holes to secure the two half shells firmly together against impact during forward stroke the piston of the bullet firing unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a toy gun (air soft gun/BB-gun) and more particularly, to a body shell structure for toy gun (air soft gun/BB-gun) that has a high strength against the impact of the driving stroke of the piston of the bullet firing unit of the toy gun.

2. Description of the Related Art

A toy gun (air soft gun/BB-gun), as shown in FIG. 1, has a body shell structure “a” comprised of two half shells 10. The body shell structure “a” defines therein a barrel-like upper chamber 101 and a lower chamber 102 in communication with the upper chamber 101. The upper chamber 101 accommodates a bullet-firing unit “b” (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The lower chamber 102 accommodates a trigger “c”, a transmission mechanism “d”, and a bullet supply unit “e” (see FIG. 2).

Further (see FIGS. 1 and 2), horizontal coupling ribs 104 and coupling grooves 105 are respectively provided at the sidewalls 103 of the half shells 10 above the elevation of the upper chamber 103. By means of engaging the respective coupling ribs 104 into the respective coupling grooves 105, the two half shells 10 are fastened together. Further, the bullet-firing unit “b” comprises a piston cylinder b1, a piston b2, and a spring b3. The piston cylinder b1 has a front fitting b11. The rear side of the piston cylinder b1 is an open side. The piston b2 is supported on the spring b3, and inserted with its front side into the piston cylinder b1. The front side of the piston b2 is provided with an air nozzle b21, which protrudes over the front fitting b11 of the piston cylinder b1 and coupled to a bush e1 of the bullet supply unit “e”. The rear side of the piston 2 extends out of the piston cylinder b1. By means of the operation of the transmission mechanism “d” to move the piston b2 backwards, the spring b3 is compressed, and at the same time the bush e1 is moved backwards. Thereafter, the bush e1 is forced forward to move one bullet 20 into position so that when the trigger “c” is depressed, the spring b3 is released to force the piston b2 forwards in a rush, and a flow of compressed air runs out of the air nozzle b21 to drive the bullet 20 out of the toy gun (this action is of the known art, not illustrated in the drawings). The toy gun according to the aforesaid prior art design is functional. However, it still has drawbacks. When the piston 2 is forced forwards, the piston 2 gives a great impact to the front side of the piston cylinder b1. At this time, the front side of the barrel-like upper chamber 101 of the body shell structure “a” receives a great pressure, and the sidewalls 103 may crack (see FIG. 3). If the toy gun is operated to strike another bullet when the sidewalls 103 cracked, the connection between the front fitting big and the piston cylinder b1 will become unstable, causing air leakage. At this time, the air nozzle b21 and the bush e1 may be biased, resulting in a firing failure. In this case, the body shell “a” must be changed.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a body shell structure for toy gun that eliminates the aforesaid problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a body shell structure for toy gun (air soft gun/BB-gun), which has a high structural strength to bear impact upon a forward stroke of the piston of the bullet-firing unit of the toy gun.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the body shell structure comprises two half shells abutted together and defining therein a barrel-like upper chamber for accommodating a bullet firing unit and a lower chamber in communication with said barrel-like upper chamber for accommodating a trigger, a transmission mechanism and a bullet supply unit, a plurality of horizontal coupling grooves disposed at one half shell above the elevation of said barrel-like upper chamber, and a plurality of horizontal coupling ribs disposed at the other half shell above the elevation of the barrel-like upper chamber for engaging the horizontal coupling grooves to secure the two half shells together. Further, two half shells have at least one engagement block and at least one engagement hole disposed in front of the upper chamber in such a manner that the at least one engagement block engages the at least one engagement hole to reinforce the structural strength of the body shell structure when the horizontal coupling ribs and the horizontal coupling grooves are coupled together to secure the two half shells together.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the at least one engagement block and the at least one engagement hole respectively extend in vertical direction.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the at least one engagement block and the at least one engagement hole can be arranged inside the two half shells. Alternatively, the at least one engagement block and the at least one engagement hole can be made extending to the inside the two half shells.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a part of a toy gun (air soft gun/BB-gun) according to the prior art, showing the structure of the body shell.

FIG. 2 is a sectional plain view of the assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 corresponds to FIG. 2, showing the sidewalls of the body shell structure cracked.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a part of a toy gun constructed according to the present invention, showing the composition of the body shell structure.

FIG. 5 is a sectional plain view of the assembly of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view in an enlarged scale of a part of the body shell structure shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a part of an alternate form of the body shell structure according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 4, a body shell structure 1 for toy gun in accordance with the present invention is shown formed of two symmetrical half shells 11. The body shell structure 1 defines therein a barrel-like upper chamber 11 and a lower chamber 12 in communication with the upper chamber 11. The upper chamber 11 accommodates a bullet-firing unit 2. The lower chamber 12 accommodates a trigger 3, a transmission mechanism 4, and a bullet supply unit 5 (see also FIG. 5).

Further, horizontal coupling ribs 111 and horizontal coupling grooves 112 are respectively provided at the sidewalls 13 of the half shells 11 above the elevation of the upper chamber 12. Further vertical engagement blocks 15 and vertical engagement holes 16 are respectively provided at the sidewalls 13 of the two symmetrical half shells 11 in front of the upper chamber 12 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). By means of forcing the respective horizontal coupling ribs 111 into engagement with the respective horizontal coupling grooves 112 and the respective vertical engagement blocks 15 into engagement with the respective engagement holes 16, the two symmetrical half shells 11 are firmly secured together against impact.

Further, the vertical engagement blocks 15 and the vertical engagement holes 16 may be extended to the outside of the sidewalls 14 (see FIG. 6). Alternatively, the vertical engagement blocks 15 and the vertical engagement holes 16 can be made inside the sidewalls 14 (see FIG. 7) so that the vertical engagement blocks 15 and the vertical engagement holes 16 are kept from sight when the two symmetrical half shells 11 are fastened together.

Referring to FIG. 5, the aforesaid bullet-firing unit 2 comprises a piston cylinder 21, a piston 22, and a spring 23. The positioning of the bullet firing unit 2, accommodates a trigger 3, transmission mechanism 4 and bullet supply unit 5 in the body shell structure 1 of the two symmetrical half shells 11 and their linking and operation are same as the prior art design. Therefore, no further detailed description in this regard is necessary.

The effectiveness of the improved body shell structure 1 of the present invention is outlined hereinafter. In addition to the coupling structure of the horizontal coupling ribs 111 and the horizontal coupling grooves 112 at the sidewalls 13 of the half shells 11 above the elevation of the upper chamber 12, the vertical engagement blocks 15 and the vertical engagement holes 16 are respectively provided at the sidewalls 13 of the two symmetrical half shells 11 at the top side and/or the bottom side in front of the upper chamber 12 to reinforce the structural strength of the connection between the two symmetrical half shells 11. Therefore, the sidewalls 14 of the two symmetrical half shells 11 of the body shell structure 1 do not crack when receiving a great impact upon forward stroke of the piston 11, i.e., the body shell structure 1 has a long service life.

A prototype of body shell structure for toy gun has been constructed with the features of FIGS. 4˜7. The body shell structure for toy gun functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. A body shell structure for toy gun, comprising two half shells abutted together and defining therein a barrel-like upper chamber for accommodating a bullet firing unit and a lower chamber in communication with said barrel-like upper chamber for accommodating a trigger, a transmission mechanism and a bullet supply unit, a plurality of horizontal coupling grooves disposed at a sidewall of one of said two half shells above the elevation of said barrel-like upper chamber, and a plurality of horizontal coupling ribs disposed at a side wall of the other of said two half shells above the elevation of said barrel-like upper chamber for engaging said horizontal coupling grooves to secure said two half shells together; wherein said two half shells have at least one engagement block and at least one engagement hole disposed in front of said upper chamber in such a manner that the at least one engagement block engages the at least one engagement hole to reinforce the structural strength of said body shell structure when said horizontal coupling ribs and said horizontal coupling grooves are coupled together to secure said two half shells together.
 2. The body shell structure for toy gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one engagement block and said at least one engagement hole respectively extend in vertical direction.
 3. The body shell structure for toy gun as claimed in claim 2, wherein said horizontal coupling ribs, said horizontal coupling grooves, said at least one engagement block and said at least one engagement hole are disposed inside said two half shells and kept from sight when said two half shells are fastened together.
 4. The body shell structure for toy gun as claimed in claim 2, wherein said horizontal coupling ribs and said horizontal coupling grooves are disposed inside said two half shells; said at least one engagement block and said at least one engagement hole respectively extend to the outside of said two half shells. 